#SimonsbergFire threatens wine industry
Alarm bells are ringing in the wine industry over the effect of fires raging in Simonsberg.
|||Cape Town - Alarm bells are ringing in the wine industry over the effect of fires raging in Simonsberg. The blaze has burnt through at least 1 000 hectares since Tuesday.
This week, the Western Cape government is to present a report on the effect of the drought, with the Simonsberg fire further threatening to increase the financial strain on the province.
The wine industry is one of South Africa’s leading agri-exporters and accounted for 1.2 percent of GDP in 2013.
The latest report on the macro-economic effect of the country’s wine industry on the economy, prepared by Conningarth Economists for South African Wine Industry Information and Systems, said the wine industry contributed R36.1 billion to the economy in 2013, via agriculture, manufacturing, trade and hospitality. The industry also generated direct and indirect employment for nearly 300 000 people.
In addition to the danger of vineyards being destroyed by fire, the smoke from the blaze also threatens the production of wine on the estates.
Edo Heynes, of VinPro, said smoke can leave a smokey taint to wine, which could cause grapes to be written off for wine production. “If it’s particularly bad, wine makers won’t use the grapes and this can be very costly. As an industry we are very concerned, which is why we have released guidelines to the wine estates that will help reduce the smoke taint in grapes and wines.”
These include using a high-pressure cold water wash in the vineyard and hand harvesting the grapes while still limiting skin contact with the grapes.
The owner of Delheim wine estate in Stellenbosch, Gyles Webb, said his estate had suffered serious damage. “It is difficult to say whether we will have to replant any vineyards at this stage, but we will have significant crop losses in the region of 20 percent, I would guess.
“The fire could cause the vines to die, or some to die, which gives rise to gaps in the vineyard that are difficult to correct. The cost of planting a vineyard is about R200 000 a hectare, and the fact that one has to wait about four years before a reasonable crop is produced makes forced replanting of a vineyard very expensive.”
On Wednesday, Cape Winelands Fire Incident Command Team member Dale Nortje said the fire was out of control. “The hot and dry windy conditions are contributing to our efforts today. We have 85 firefighters on the ground and nine fire-fighting vehicles. Fortunately there is still no threat to lives and no structures have been damaged, although certain vineyards have been affected.”
The fire, which started on Tuesday, flared above Johannesdal and spread north-east over the mountain. By Wednesday afternoon it was burning above Kanonkop and had burnt through at least 1 000 hectares of land.
The Simonsberg fire follows a bush fire in Elgin last weekend. By Wednesday afternoon, firefighters had managed to contain the blaze.
Another fire was raging on Wednesday on the mountain slopes in Glencairn. Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Liezl Moodie said there was no immediate danger to life or property. “We are focusing on containment as there is no threat to life.”
iman.latief@inl.co.za
Cape Argus